A TOTEM TO THE DAWN OF LIGHT
An assemblage of seven connected ceramic vessels
This totem draws inspiration from the images of the infant universe, created by seven years of data from NASA’s Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe. The images chart the explosion of heat that created our universe 13.7 billion years ago, and which will frame our existence for as long as light prevails.
The concept for this Totem draws on the primal elements of shape, colour and texture, and explores geometries and mathematical pattern making to bring order and perceived movement to these elements’ potentially chaotic and random interactions.
This is a story of creation that brings together science and art, combining precision and hand-crafting, using shape to slice through three dimensions, and colour to create perceived movement in the fourth.
The Totem is an assemblage of seven connected ceramic vessels. The number seven has been chosen because it is a prime number, paying homage to the inherent randomness of our world, while also acknowledging the ancient fables that reference seven days of creation and, of course, the seven years of NASA’s data.
The forms of the interconnected vessels have symmetry to soothe the senses but this is embellished with twists to create fluid and changing perspectives. The colours generate intricate patterns that envelop the forms, playing with natural geometries, to create perceived depth and movement. The rough, smooth and shiny textures have different luminous qualities, so each element subtly reveals its character as the falling light changes intensity or direction.
The piece stands just under 1m tall.
DRAWINGS OF THE DAWN OF LIGHT
The drawings below explore the Dawn of Light in two-dimensions. Each drawing illustrates the colours and brightness of the emerging light at a different cross sections through the pot:
The first is through the lowest part of the pot and focuses on two colours - indigo/purple and brown/red - as the concept of light emerges from the darkness.
The second is through the middle of the pot, where the light has grown in strength, and the indigo has blossomed into a bright blue and the brown into orange.
The third, and final cross section, is through the top of the pot where the full colours of the rainbow have exploded into bright white light.
Each drawing is approximately 450mm square and executed in crayon on Canson paper.
